Frances Cowen

{{Infobox writer

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| name = Frances Cowen

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| pseudonym = Eleanor Hyde

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| birth_date = 27 December 1915

| birth_place = Oxford, England

| death_date = 1992

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| occupation = Writer

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Ursuline Convent, Oxford
Milham Ford School

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Adult suspense novels
Romance
Mysteries for children

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| spouse = George Heinrich Munthe (1938, died 1941)

| children = 1

| parents = Joseph and Helen (Ainscough) Cowen

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Frances Cowen (27 December 1915{{cite book|editor=John M. Reilly|title=Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers|chapter=Cowen, Frances|publisher=MacMillan|year=1980|pages=[https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00reil/page/364 364–66]|isbn=0-333-30107-2|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00reil/page/364}} − 1992{{cite web|last=Hubin|first=Allen J.|title=Crime Fiction IV: A Comprehensive Bibliography 1749−2000: Addenda to the Revised Edition|url=http://www.crimefictioniv.com/Part_8.html|access-date=September 25, 2019}}) was a British writer of romantic suspense novels and books for children. Her work appeared under the pseudonym Eleanor Hyde as well as her own name. She was also at times known by the names Frances Munthe and Frances Minto-Cowen.{{cite web|title=Frances Munthe|work=Contemporary Authors Online|publisher=Gale|year=2003|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000071394/BIC?u=|url-access=subscription|access-date=September 5, 2019}}

In addition to writing, Cowen worked for Blackwell's in Oxford, England, in 1938−39; was a member of Air Raid Precautions staff in Dartmouth, Devon, during World War II, and was assistant secretary for the Royal Literary Fund in London from 1955 through 1966.{{cite web|title=Frances Cowen|work=Contemporary Authors Online|publisher=Gale|year=1994|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2404000107/BIC?u=|url-access=subscription|access-date=September 5, 2019}} Cowen contributed to anthologies, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Weekly, Oxford Times, and other periodicals and newspapers. She was a staff member of Little Folks magazine and a member of PEN International and of the Crime Writers' Association.

Personal life

The daughter of Joseph and Helen Cowen, Frances Cowen was born in Oxford, where she was educated at an Ursuline convent and the Milham Ford School for girls. She married George Heinrich Munthe in 1938; he died in 1941. They had one child, a daughter, Mary.